The Redemption
by Ember Nickel
Summary: A continuation from book 54.
1. Jake

**Jake**

"Ram the Blade ship," I said.

>Jake> , Tobias said in thoughtspeak, I'm sorry.

"For what?" Marco replied as the ship rotated so that it would impact the Blade ship, if only a little. "Going to the bathroom all the time?"

He did have a point. Tobias's trips to the toilet were more frequent than we might expect. Obviously, we didn't want him to do his business out in the main cabin, but even for a bird...

>No, well, yes, well>... Tobias's thoughtspeak shut off as he entered a morph. No-a _de_morph.

"What the-" Marco began.

"I told you not to-"

BANG! Not only did we hit the Blade ship, we crashed through it so much if we opened the door, we could walk into it. And that's what I did, waving Marco, and Tobias-no, Cassie, and the others behind me.

Ax was standing there, waiting for us. >Jake>, he said. >It is good to see you. The mouth you saw was a hologram.>

"How are you? Have you been taken over by that-that-"

>It is not a takeover. It is a merging. I am part of something greater than any being or species could imagine, something you soon will experience.>

"You're evil, that's what you are," said Cassie. I wanted to tell her to shut up, to get back in the ship where it was safe, but she kept talking. "We will not join you."

>Really. Observe her!> Ax-was it Ax? gestured to Jeanne, who now had the same calm look on her face that Ax did.

"Marco," she said. "I know you can talk sense into your friend. Come and be part of me."

Menderash and Santorelli, the others who had come with us, were looking even more confused than I felt. Shrugging, they turned to each other.

"Don't!" I yelled.

"It will happen anyway," Menderash replied. "Better that it is easy than hard." And suddenly they, too, were "merged" into The One. Or whatever it called itself.

>He was right> said Ax. >You have faced me before. You know I will be victorious.> For a moment his four eyes gleamed red-maybe. It could have been the Blade ship's lighting.

"That...that was a dream," I said, struggling to maintain my hold on reality. "You tested me."

>And you lost.> There was no illusion this time. Ax's eyes were as dark and as evil as Crayak's, and so were Jeanne's, and Menderash's, and Santorelli's, and-

"No," I gasped, staring at Marco.

"Jake," he whispered. "It's okay. Just come with me. You don't need to be feeling this way."

Cassie's eyes flickered. She was losing it, too. All of a sudden she regained her composure and strolled over to the others. One of them.

>It's over, Jake. I have beaten you. Let us end this.>

I couldn't look at Santorelli or Menderash or Jeanne, who I'd brought along to lead to their doom. Couldn't face my best friend, or what had become of him. Couldn't handle Cassie's eyes.

I stared at Ax. I was here to rescue him, and I had a duty to do. "You can't win, Crayak."

The humans now part of this monstrosity just laughed. >I no longer need a name like that. I am no longer one mind. I use the minds of others now. Sacrifice yours, Jake.>

All four eyes gleaming red. I stared them down as they drained the hope from me. And at the very moment it was all lost, and I was about to give in, I smiled. "Hey, Mr. One, or whatever I'm supposed to call you. Aren't you curious as to how we got here?"

>No.>

"I think you should be. I mean, getting a spaceship and flying it right where you were? Could normal beings pull that off on their own? No way!"

>Your point?>

"My point is that there's no way we could have done it. And we did it. Which means only one thing. We had help."

>Help?>

"A nudge, here or there. A few laws of physics being violated. Just your normal...interference."

>MEDDLER! >With a thoughtspoken yell that could have knocked the earth out of orbit, Crayak shot out of the minds on the spaceship. I could almost feel him, or it, crashing with the Ellimist as they physically met in an explosion of energy.

Ax stumbled, then stood upright.> I am...I am...>

"Free," Marco responded. "We all are."

Cassie was silently crying as she mouthed, "Thank you. Thank you, Jake."

By this time, Ax was acting a little more normal as he turned to those who had come with us. >And thank you, as well. There are thirty-five others on this ship who have just now been released from that evil. Can you take them through Z-space to their home planets?>

"Yes sir!"

>Good. Thank you. I will accompany these others home.>Ax pointed to Marco, Cassie, and me.

"How are you supposed to go back with a hole in your ship?" Marco asked.

>Veenborsh metal?> It'll repair itself, of course.

"Oh, riiight," said Marco, nodding his head. "Duh."

Cassie laughed. "Let's go home."

In annoyance over FFN's lack of correct orientation for the thoughtspeak symbols, Ember Nickel.


	2. Cassie

Unlike I can correctly orient the thoughtspeak signs. w00t.

**Cassie**

The ride felt longer going than coming. I occupied my time by playing basketball.

Yes. Me, Cassie the farm girl, playing basketball. In zero gravity. Marco and I were on a team, as Ax was even worse than I was. At least, after we got over a rules discrepancy.

"So I put the ball in the hoop? Puh?"

"Yes, Ax-man, you put the ball in the hoop."

"This is too easy."

Jake laughed. "Really? Okay, game on!"

I picked up the ball and ran with it. Marco was shaking his head for no apparent reason, and Ax was demorphing.

"Human bodies might be better than Andalite's at playing basketball," Jake informed him.

>I'm not going to use an Andalite body.> All of a sudden Ax had six pairs of wings, and was swiping the ball out of my hands.

"Okay," said Marco. "Let's make this fair. Cassie, you're not allowed to travel,"

Jake interrupted. "That means picking up the ball and walking around with it."

"Oh. Thanks." I blushed.

"No problem," he smiled.

Marco continued. "And Ax, you're not allowed to morph a..."

_>Kafit_ bird.> Ax demorphed.

The final scores of the games were something like Jake and Ax 29, Marco and Cassie 13. And it felt even worse than that. It was mostly one-on-one, while Ax and I studied the game. We learned important stuff, like you shouldn't pass to the players on the other team.

But basketball wasn't interesting all the time, so somehow I wound up sitting quietly with Jake. Neither of us talked for a while until out of the blue Jake said, "So, I guess that's it."

"What's what?"

"We'll go back to earth, and it'll be more of the same. I hate to say this, but I enjoyed...the fighting." He paused. "I don't want to be like that."

I took his hand. "You're a competitor. A winner. There's nothing wrong with wanting to compete."

But he shook his head. "I can't go back to that anymore. There's no place for me to do that. And you-you were the one that kept me sane through all of it. And I don't have it anymore, and so I don't get to be with you."

"Jake," I told him. "It doesn't matter whether or not you're saving the earth, I'm always willing to be with you."

"Oh, how touching," said Marco.

Jake, looking extremely annoyed, called out: "Uh...Prince Aximili? Can you torture Marco for a while?"

Ax sighed. "I am, technically, a prince. But we are peers. We fought together. You don't have to call me "Prince"."

Jake was lost for words for a moment before saying. "Okay. Sorry, Ax."

Once Marco was out of the way, Jake replied. "But not in the same way. There's Ronnie, for one thing."

"Jake," I said, "Ronnie is an awesome guy. He's dedicated to the Hork-Bajir, and he's in love with me."

"Yes," Jake said.

"And he's also incredibly thick. There's no way I'd seriously consider him for, well, something like that."

Jake felt anxious to change the subject. "How did you get on here? I told you not to come."

"It was Tobias's idea. He said it was better for me to come than him. So I acquired him and we switched places while that naming ceremony was going on."

"Ok."

There was a pause, and then I told him, "You're pretty good at basketball."

"Playing against Marco and you, yeah."

"No, I mean it. You're...gifted. You understand the game."

"How do you know?"

"I just do," I shrugged. "You should play more often when we get back."

He rolled his eyes. "Fat chance of that. I'll be too busy signing autographs."

"Well, okay. If there was ever a way that you didn't have to worry about the fame."

He nodded, and then grinned. "Plus, I'd be competing."

"Huh?"

"You said that basketball was like fighting the Yeerks. Well, if we were...together, back then, we could be together now. Maybe. Anyhow...I'm glad you came."

"Thanks. I'm glad too."


	3. Marco

Everyone else who's annoyed at the fact can't handle thoughtspeak signs in their correct orientation, raise a hand. (Alternatively, raise a hand of the being you are currently infesting.)

**Marco**

After a while, fame does get boring. I mean, it's the same people asking for your autograph. I told them to go bug that Ronnie guy. It worked: somebody blabbed something and now everybody knows he's getting married to that Hork-Bajir, Toby Hamee.

But it was serious. Now that I finally had my mom alive and back with me, it was being ruined by the paparazzi. And Hummer limos get boring if you have a chauffeur drive instead of you. The others weren't very fond of it, either. Jake and Cassie got annoyed when people intruded on their chats. Ax didn't have a clue what the press was doing, and Tobias was still feeling guilty about not being able to do "enough".

I was lying on my couch, watching our movie on a big-screen TV when I got the idea. I called up Jake, and our conversation went something like this.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's me."

"Oh, hi."

"I have an idea."

"Really?"

You know, deep stuff like that. So eventually we got to me saying, "What if we could make people believe that we were normal and that it had been others who had fought off the Yeerks?"

"We couldn't."

"What if somebody else announced it for us?"

"Who would do that? Everybody loves us, and nobody would want to bring us down."

"You mean there's no one out there in the world who hates our guts?"

"Besides our Visser friend, no."

"Actually, I think there is..."

So that's how I wound up on a live newsbroadcast, but actually, I wasn't the one being broadcasted.

>My name is David.

There are 576 ways of rat suicide, and I have attempted all of them.

As you have guessed, I failed. It's difficult when you're a human in the body of a rat. Yes, I'm a _nothlit_. Yes, it was due to the Yeerks. No, you don't know the whole story. You don't even know half of it.

The first Yeerks to invade earth came here about 10 years ago, after capturing an Andalite ship. The Andalites on that ship were all dead, but the Yeerks were able to get the morphing technology. This led them to infest five kids, who you of course know as the Animorphs, and give them the morphing capabilities. Then some more Yeerks showed up-Visser Three and his minions-and they wanted the planet for themselves. So a pointless war resulted, and I got trapped in the body of a rat. Which is really annoying.

Anyhow, the Visser lost, but the first group of Yeerks didn't have their heads screwed on too tight when they ordered the destruction of the Kandrona rays. This led them to starve to a horrible and painful death. The Animorphs, meanwhile, had to suffer through all this as well. By the time it was through, they were free, but unable to remember anything since before the infestation. Jake, Cassie, and Marco are still around somewhere. My advice? Be nice to them and don't remind them of everything. Although they do have a little amnesia, they're all right.

I'll be around for interviews in about fifteen minutes.>

David went backstage to where we were. >Okay. The cheese.>

I threw some cheese down at him.

>On a platter. That's what the contract said. I memorized your stupid story and recited it word for word. Platter.>

I groaned, but Cassie said, "He is right." So about five minutes later, out she comes with a platter.

After some nibbling, he asked Ax, >So your scientists are in the intermediate stages of reversing _nothlits_ and you don't bring me the information?>

>It was the intermediate stage. They should be complete within five to ten of your years.>

"In the meantime, you're famous," I reminded him.

>Yeah, but couldn't you have brought back some intermediate results?>

I had...other data I wanted to bring back.

>Other data. Thanks. Hey, where's Ms. I'm a Super Gymnast?>

There was a nervous pause, then I told him, "She couldn't make it today."

>Mm. Okay. So five to ten years?>

>If not sooner.>

>I'll see you then.> And he walked back into the limelight.

He could have it. It really was overrated, after a while at least.


	4. Ax

Another chapter, another rant about lack of correct thoughtspeak orientation.

**Ax**

It had been so long since I was in the forest, yet I knew it as if I had never left. I walked through the forest, calling out Tobias's name in thoughtspeak. Eventually he responded.

>Ax? You're okay!> My _shorm_ fluttered down and perched on my tail. >I knew Jake could do it.>

>I don't wish to offend you, but why didn't you come?>

He thought a moment before responding, >I was hoping that I could get Cassie and Jake to...reconnect.>

>It worked.>

>How's it been?>

>Fairly good. There's something I want to tell you about. I brought some data with me from the Andalite home planet.> Carefully, I produced the disks. >Do you know what a _hirac delest_ is?>

>No. It almost sounds familiar...but, no.>

>It is an Andalite tradition to record a message, if possible, shortly before death. There is a receptor that picks them up from across the universe. There are two-well, closer to one and a half-that I have brought to your planet to share. Here, take this.> I handed him a disk that he took in his claw. >This was picked up by the receptor, but we don't recognize it and cannot translate it. It was not sent according to the normal tradition, and it almost seems like whoever sent it didn't know it. The first two words of it have entered the Andalite language for "unbreakable code".>

>Well, what are they?>

>I don't know how to pronounce them in your language, but it would be similar to "Eye wunde reede".>

>Okay. What do you want me to do with it?>

>I assumed you could contact some earth cryptographer who might know what it meant. Of course, you could try and decode it as well.>

>I'll do that. And you said there was another one?>

>Yes. But I don't want to play it here. Is your mother still alive?>

>Yeah, why?>

>I want her to experience it as well.>

I used my bird morph to follow Tobias above the city. Loren's house was just like the others nearby. I demorphed and quickly went to human as I knocked on the door.

Loren opened it. Although no longer blind, she still had a tired look on her face. "Hello...don't tell me...Aximili. And Tobias."

>Yup>, Tobias morphed to human. "Ax has something he wants to show you."

So I played the _hirac delest_ of my brother Elfangor. It had not been released to the general Andalite public-there was much in it that it was not appropriate for them to know. But there was no one who deserved to know the entire story more than Loren and Tobias.

It was long. Tobias and I had to demorph, but we kept it playing. It was interesting to watch Loren's face change from confused to shocked to even more shocked. But by the end, she was nodding slowly as if she knew what was going on.

Tobias just shook his head. >How could the Ellimist have known how it needed to work out?>

"Maybe he didn't," Loren replied. "Maybe he was just guessing. But...he's not perfect. Because as that was playing, I began...remembering."

>Perhaps his power is weakening.> I suggested. >From what I can tell, he and Crayak-that's his enemy>- I added for Loren, are having some sort of intergalactic wrestling match.

>Or maybe this was part of the plan all along, >Tobias added quietly.

All of a sudden we were morphing to human and hugging. It could have gone on for two hours, but suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Ax! Tobias!" Jake called. "Cassie's house! Right away!"


	5. Tobias

Don't worry, the nextpart has no more thoughtspeak signs for me to gripe about incorrect orientation thereof.

**Tobias**

Loren-my mom!-told us to go to Cassie's. She'd wait for us. I dropped off that second _hirac delest_, reminded myself to look at it, and flew over the city.

I had not seen the other Animorphs since Cassie and I switched places at the _Rachel_. I had only gotten a glimpse of them-but they had looked like adults. So different from when we met. And yet, now they looked the same. Jake was wearing a basketball jersey-Ax had told me that he was taking it up full-time as a way to compete more often. Cassie's shirt was grubby, and Marco was, well, being Marco.

Cassie was smiling. "It's the anniversary. Of the day we walked through the construction site. And I just remembered why I was there in the first place. Come on." We followed her into the kitchen. She opened up the freezer and began sorting through things that had been untouched for years. Finally, she came up with a white box. As she removed it, a can of orange juice fell out. It was about to hit the floor and explode when Jake caught it. Cassie set the box down and took the can from Jake. As their fingers touched, both of them grinned a little, and Marco laughed.

"What?" Jake said as Cassie put the can back in and closed it. "I...liked her before, why can't I like her now?"

"I'm not laughing at the relationship, I'm laughing at your intelligence. How could you have not figured that out for so long?" Marco asked. "What's in the box, Cassie?"

>I don't read human writing well, but even I know what it says>, Ax announced. He was morphing human.

She opened it. Six cinnamon rolls were inside that had laid untouched for years. None of us said a word until Marco reached for one, said "Well? Bottoms up!" and bit in. All of a sudden it really was like it had been. We were eating, teasing each other, and celebrating our victory.

I polished off my roll and looked into the box. We had each had one, so there should have been one left. But the others were noticing too-nothing was there.

"Ax?"

"What?"


	6. Narrator's Tide

_I wondered if the Ellimist was right. He said he couldn't tell me what was going to happen. But somehow, at this moment I was smarter than him. I could see that it would end in victory, and soon. I'd done what I had to do, and it would pay off. For them, and for me. For all of us._


End file.
